THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, July 2, 1842.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 17, 2 July 1842, Page 66

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, July 2, 1842.

Les journaux deviennent plus necexsmres a mesure que les homines so*ut plus fesraux, et 1' individualisme plus a cruindre. Cc serait diminuer leur importance que de croire qu' ils ne servent qu' a garamir la liberte : ils maintiennent la civilisation. Ul ToCUUEVILLB. De la De'uiocratie en Amerique, tome 4, p. 280. Journals become more necessary as men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve only to secure liberty : they maintain civilization. Vl TOCO.UEVILLE. Of Democracy in America, vol. 4, p. 320. Now that ihe land claims havf been made most unnecessarily a cause of fresh difference between the settlers on the Company's land and the Government, we fee] less inclined than heretofore to treat with moderation the crimes of which the Locals Government continue to be guilty towards us. "We have long hoped against hope. We have sought in each of the many causes of complaint ibr something which bright account for it, and have endeavoured to keep off a* long as possible the conviction that purposed, not merely ignorant neglect, was the origin of our many grievances. But we can uo longer deceive ourselves ; the scales are torn from our eyes by the obstinate determination evinced that there shall be no mistake about the matter. The glove has* been thrown down to us often and often

and we endeavoured to deceive ourselves into the belief that it was accidentally dropped ; but the gauntlet is now hurled jn our very faces, with a defiance that taunts us for our moderation. Not unwillingly, however, do we now take it up ; nor in hot rage at the insulting violence which accompanies the challenge, nor with any less determination to give no quarter because we were at one time anxious to avoid the combat. We are confident not so much in our own strength as in the weakness of our adversary, whose many sins must hang heavy on hit conscience. There will be no poison on our weapon but when it cornea in contact with diseased flesh, and it bends or shatters when aimed at a heart conscious of no crime ; but to the guilty, were it fifty times so weak as it is, it would carry death, for such have no armour which can ojlpose the sword of troth, however weak the arm that wields it.

We have been taxed more than once with being " a Company's paper" — " Oh, you are Company's men." Well, and so*"We are. Why not ? We firmly believe that we represent the opinions of " a Company's settlement." This is not a Government settlement ; and, as things go, we think we may justly add thereto — thank God ! There is nothing anti-Government about us. It is the Government that is anti-us. We have n*ver opposed the Government ; but we ha?e been actually obliged tcfchol& on by something to save ourselves from being forced down, trodden out, by Government opposition and discouragement. Why not, then, attach ourselves to the Company t We do not think — we have never said— *- that the New Zealand Company or their representative*- are immaculate. We oftetv ask them for things which they have not yet given us, and find fault with them for not having done that which they should have done, and for doing that which they should not have done. Ditto the Government. What, then, is the difference ? Why just this. There is a Latin and a legal word— animus. We hate to use either Latin or legal terms, but the word says what we wish to say, and that is enough for us. It'C is the animus that makes the difference. We have faith in the Company ; they have given us reason — the only foundation of a just faith. We believe that they do wish the advancement of their settlements — that their measures have been taken with the sole view to that advancement. But how of the Government ? Why just the Contrary. Who made arrangements that the best possible site should be selected for this settlemr nt \ The Company. Who did all in their power to frustrate that end ? The Government. Who took — who are willing to take — all trouble and responsibility in securing to us the title of the lands which we now occupy? The Company, Who have done — who are doing — their tvst, or rather their worst, to destroy the validity of that title, and to disturb it by stirring up native opposition to our occupation ? The Government. WoU, but the Government is a conscientious Government, and will look after its Maori subjects as well as its fVhitey-\nan onr»s — Oh, of course — and therefore it will have no native reserves. Paternal Government ! — wooing, with open arms, the embraces of the dark children, to whom at the same time it denies the means of future subsistence, for the purpose of spiting the pale-faced sons who have angered it, and whom it spurns with angry foot from its august presence. And therefore and for this it is that we are " a Company's paper," ay, and shall he until — but that is unnecessary, there cannot be two such unnatural parents in the world.

One hundred and fifty pounds^ For a Court House and Gaol! Liberal allowance — especially when the gaol delivery is put off for an indefinite period. Colonial wages will hardly allow of a decent shed for that sum. We have a gaol, the cost of which swallowed up, we believe, the whole of the Government building expenditure sanctioned for this place. A good substantial building it is, somewhat better than that with which our Port Nicholson neighbours were obliged to make shift, and certainly superior to the warrie on the hill overlooking the haven, whence the prisoners walked out at the window while the constable was standing at the door. WiU our readers look at a notice of a police case which appears in another column ? and, having done so, it is worth their while to take a walk up to the gaol with an order from Mr. Thompson in their bands, which they will present to Mr. Fitzpatrick, who will, with his usual civility, doubtless allow them to view the premises, the inmates of which ure under his charge. Miss Jane Hopgood is thirteen years of age. She h;i* displayed, from what appeared in the Police Court, some precocity of talent in the school of vice. What better place to send her for imprisonment than, to a gaol where are full-

grown male culprits, with only a colonial

partition between them ? Yet what are the njlfgist rates to do ? There is no proper department for women, no matron. The unhappy child has a mother, who encourages her in vice, if her committal be a just one, and a home where she is not likoly to be lauylit more good than can well be helped. !Fortunately, or unfortunately — we hardly know which— the mother is committed with the child to prison. But how if such had ftot b>een the case ? A Government representative and police magistrate we have, and in one sense most certainly he represents the 'Government, for, as representative, he does nothing: and why? Because he has not the means. "Go to Nelson, be a police magistrate. Here is £150 to build •a. gaol and court-house, for without that you will not be able to enforce the fines, and we shall get nothing out of them, to say nothing of the necessity for some one to oblige the payment of Custom duties. Call yourself Government representative ; not that there is anything to represent, only there must be one, and it saves money to make you do both for one salary. Oh, 1 vby the bye, you may as well be Protector of at the same time : it will save something, and we can spend the £200 here instead — we want a stable sadly. And mind now, if you lay out a farthing more than that £150, it will be at your own risk, we wou't pay a farthing of it. Courts for the recovery of debts? Oh, they won't want a court for the recovery of debts ; besides, that's all going out and nothing «oming in." Who have so good a right to laugh at misfortunes as the sufferers themselves ? We may laugh hereafter with more glee, and for another cause. ] We extract the following from the cohimn* of the New Zealand Gazette, when* it appears as :»n " extract from a London letter :" — *" I agree with you in your view respecting secondary towns. Though brought out on a large scale, Nelson will be a secondary town, end although it is as large in plan as Wellington, 1,100 acres, I do not suppose more than one-fourth will be occupied for the next half ■century. All the towns have been made too large. 550 acres, with a belt of suburban lands, would have been large enough for Wellington, •275 acres for Nelson, and less for New Plymouth-. In illustration of this, I enclose three tables of the size and. population of some English, Irish, and continental towns, which will show how much too large the New Zealand towns are : —

" Thf English and Irish towns are from the plant of the Boundary Commissioners — the continental are from the maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. The plan

1 adopted was to divide the towns into quarter acre squares, i.e., 40 acres, which enabled me to^ieasure the irregularities pretty nearly. But it includes all streets, which the 1,100 acres of Wellington do not. However, I set off the streets against the lower buildings of colonial towns, and I assume that you have ample room for 80,000 people."

Our readers will find the first of the above tables in our second number.

We are sorry that our contemporary did not use the knife a little when he extracted the opinion of his correspondent. He must be quite aware that an opinion on the relative prosperity of any two settlements, from a person who, if he have been at one of them (which is not probable), yet can never have seen the other, nor have the least idea as to where it is situated or what are its capabilities, cannot be worth much. All reference to such subjects appears to us to be exceedingly unwise. It is certainly uncalled for. We do nut profess even to entertain an opinion ou the subject of the probable future advancement of the two settlements ; but we are well aware that there are many inhabitants of this place who hold and express an opinion very different from that given by the writer of this letter. Our contemporary must, on a moment's reflection, perceive that, if the matter were as plain as a pikestaff, either one way or the other, there would be numbers whose egoism would make them blind to the advantages of one place and would exaggerate those of the other; why offend even these? Noth'ng so easy as to raise illfeeling. Has our contemporary the oil that can allay it ?

We have long entertained an opinion that the towns as laid out by the New Zealand Company are too large. The result of a smaller town section would be a very desirable one, namely, a greater equality in the value received by all purchasers. In any other point of view it is not vn - y important, except so far as it would tend to lessen the expense of survey. Yet this would not be much. Supposing the above statistics to be correct, it appears to us that the conclusion arrived at us to the non -calculation of streets in the number of a.-res contained in the colonial tovvni, cannot be justly said to make up for the difference between three, four, or five storied houses and those with only a groundfloor, or_at most with two floors. A town, to European eyes, is a cramped up place, in which the chief object is to get as many people into as small a space as possible. This is a point in which the colonies need not be ambitious of imitating old countries. Plenty of air, for a long time gardens, very broad streets, no alleys, as lew floors as possible to the buildings — in fact, no concentration, except where business imperatively demands it. Such is our idea of a new colonial town. It will be time enough to squeeze ourselves when we cannot help it.

We were under a misapprehension last week, when we referred to the notice of an action for libel served by the Government Pn»ecutor upon the proprietor of the Gazette. Mr. Hanson is only employed professionally by Mr. Clark.

The ratifications of a treaty of navigation between Sardinia and Great Britian were exchanged at Turin in November last. The treaty is to endure ten years from that date. It is on the principle of complete reciprocity : English ships sailing direct from the United Kingdom, Malta, or Gibraltar, or British vessels making Sardinian ports in ballast alter a voyage, and all Sardinian vessels in ballast or sailing from Sardinian ports to the United Kingdom, Malta, or Gibraltar, are to be treated reciprocally as native vessels of the ports whicn they enter, in all that regards tonnage, freight, pilotage, quarantine, port dues, light-houses, and signals. lhe coasting-trade of either country is reserved from the provisions of the treaty.

Dibt or Children. — There is no greater error in the management of children than that of giving them animal diet very early. To feed an infant with solid animal food before it has teeth proper for masticating, shows a total disregard to the plain indications of nature, in withholding teeth suited to this purpose until the age at which the system requires solid food, and animal broths, afford that kind of sustenance which is at once best suited to the digestive organs and to the nutrition of the system. — Sir James Clark.

ACREAGE AND POPULATION OP TOWNS. Population Englith. Acre*. Homes. in 1831. Bath ... 640 7,80 ft 51,000 Bristol . . . 1,360 18,800 105,000 Cambridge . 360 4,506 21,000 Carlisle . . . 240 2,924 20,000 Chester . . 360 4.200 22,000 Colchester . 280 2,852 16,000 Gloucester . 240 2,264 15,000 Macclesfield . 400 4,049 30,000 Liverpool . . 2,800 25,280 211,000 Total . 6,680 72,675 4 'J 1,000 Compared to^ Wellington f 1,100 12,112 81,833 Iriih. Acres. Armagh ... 160 Belfast ... 720 Carlow . . . 200. Clonrael ... 240 Cork .... 1,200 Drogheda . . 320. Dublin . . . 3,120 Stigo .... 200 Waterford . . 400 Population. 9,470 62,000 . . 11,000 15,134 . 106,000 17,000 . 232,000 12,000 26,377 Total . . .6,560 . 490,981 Compared with > , inft Wellington.} Wo ° 81,830 V Continental. Acres. Dresden . . . 1,200 Berlin . . . 3.360 Vienna . . . 3,840 Lisbon . . . 2,880 St. Petersburg . 7,880 Florence. . . 1,000 Genoa . . . 360 Turin .... 400 Copenhagen . 700 Brussels . . . 1,100 Frankfort . . 560 Marseille* . . 720 Toulon ... 160 Population. 60,000 . 257,000 . 270,000 . 230,000 * 180,000 97,548 76.000 90,000 . 116,000 98,000 47,000 . 120,000 35,322 Total . . 24,160 -. 1,976,870 Proportion . . 1,100 90,000